ATP WASHINGTON and UMAG: Monfils saves 1 match point to edge Karlovic. First title for Fognini in 2 and a half years

ATP 500 Washington (Outdoor Hard) :

Ivo Karlovic and Gael Monfils showed the most this week in Washington, to be in a deserved final. Karlovic, coming here with his title from Newport, stayed unbroken in all 43 service games en route to the final, while Monfils also served great, losing serve once before the final clash. The match didn’t disappoint, with Monfils prevailing by 5-7 7-6 6-4 in just 2 hours and 13 minutes, saving one match point in the second set tie break. Ivo was the better player until the 10th game of the second set when he served for the match, being just 4 good serves away from becoming the oldest Washington champion and also the oldest player since Ken Rosewall in October 1973 with back-to-back ATP title. After that, he even had a match point but Monfils proved to stronger in the end, for only his 6th ATP title and the first since Montpellier 2014. Gael is now 6-19 in the ATP finals, improving his poor score in title matches at least for a little bit. Gael became the 8th player this season who won the title after saving a match point, and this is also his first title on the American soil. The last Washington winner from France was Arnaud Clement in 2006. Ivo fired 28 aces but his first serve wasn’t always there when he needed it, staying on 60%. Gael had the similar numbers on his serve, with 16 aces but also 7 double faults. Frenchman played better in the most important points, facing only 4 break points while Ivo played against 9. In the end, it all came down to those final few points of the second set and the start of the third, and Ivo wasn’t helped by the fact he won 5 points more in the end. A veteran from Croatia had a better start, creating a break chance in the opening game of the match, but Gael prevented the complete disaster, as that could have been the worst thing he could do against such a good server like Karlovic. In the next 9 games, both players settled into the nice rhythm on serve, reaching 5-5 without additional break chances, and Ivo was particularly good, starting the match …

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